meshulash

Good day, to all!

I come with some interesting updates. First of all, I finally started my volunteer job. I will be working on two projects.

One involves traveling to The Triangle, the meshulash in Hebrew, I don't know how in Arabic, and working with several community groups in order to help them write grant proposals, newsletters, and research funds in English in order to help build and continue their projects. I went on Sunday for the first time and met with a few feminism/women's groups as well as a youth-oriented group. It was great! First of all, we learned about the triangle in some classes, about how the local governments are generally corrupt, there is crime, the schools are bad, and people talk always of trading it to a future state of Palestine without even asking the people where they wish to be. It's sad. But I must say that it is a beautiful part of the country, with beautiful trees and farms, cute neighborhoods with nice looking restaurants and cafes that line the sides of the main roads, and some very pretty mosques sprinkled throughout. The people I met were incredibly impressive, coming from a difficult society and having such optimism and ambition to create social change. Refocus priorities on education and the youth, overcome social constructs of the role of the woman. I'm glad to be able to help these people.

The other project I'll be working with is under the banner of Haifa as a Shared City. I'm to be researching models of shared societies in the midst of conflict or multiethnic societies and analyze how education is used to create a shared culture or sense of belonging in the society in order to build bonds between the groups on at least a local level. The goal of the project is to redefine what living in Haifa and being "Haifaim" mean in order to create a constructive society and avoid what happened in Acre from ever happening here.

And here I am, finishing up my last week of classes before break. I'm so excited! My parents are coming in and I have tons of plans for us. I hope they're up to it! I can't wait to see them, and I miss them a ton. I'm also really excited for them to see me here, as I was able to see their life in their new home when I went home for that week. It's too bad that I won't be able to take them to Jordan, but I do plan to take them to Nazareth and other Arab parts of Israel in order to show them different societies that live here.

I want to take a moment to direct you all to Ari's column in his school's newspaper. He wrote a really interesting article (I got a shoutout, woot woot!) that I think you may find interesting. It's a very accurate view of some of what I experienced in Jordan when I lived there and continue to when I return for visits. I'm excited for him to come visit during break!!

Alright, I'm going to be getting some food now so that I make it to the university in time for class. Take care!

--Avraham

looking toward the ofeq/afq

I never shared these photographs with you of my amazing time with Jackie. I already got to enjoy a great spring break before mine even came. My parents come to Israel in just 10 days, and I can barely wait to see them and take them all over the place.

This week's start of my new phase has really gone well. It's not easy, and my mindset is very different, but I am noticing that this is important. I need to be able to build a life for myself here without the foundations being too far away from where I am or out of my control, and after I feel confident that I am doing just that, I can reintroduce the comfort elements of my life in order to be stronger while I'm here.

I'm gon' take my prize, as we say. I met with a woman I'm supposed to be working with this semester today and happened to meet with someone else in the meantime about another project with which I am looking to be involved. It looks as though I'll be able to offer a lot to this group, Shatil, in terms of research as well as services. I'm meeting with a few groups, finally, on Sunday to discuss their goals and help them to write grant proposals and/or newsletters for current donors. In addition, I will be researching how education has played a role in diverse cities or cities in the midst of conflict in order to create a shared culture or sentiment among the city's inhabitants despite the larger challenge of the various groups in conflict of the region. Basically, what can we learn from the rest of the world in order to help Haifa achieve that strength?

I am pounding through tons of Arabic homework, lots of reading and writing. I am putting a lot of time into this class, and it's good for me. I'm learning a ton of very useful words--useful to sociology, at least. The class itself is a bit stressful and a bit less rewarding than the assignments, but it is also very demanding of my attention and helping me to increase my ear for Hebrew while also increasing my speed at reading Arabic. In my head, I'm reading quite quickly. Out loud, I'm working on it. Shway shway. Khi6watan fa khi6watan.

It's far too late, but I was finishing my homework. I'm really excited for the end of this week and for my spring break. I have beautiful plans and will be spending it with people that are incredibly important to me. By then, I am hoping that the weather will be warmer and that I will feel a bit more planted here in Haifa so that I can miss everyone while still fully enjoying this new and important experience.

I miss you.

--Avraham

shift

Hello all, it's your faithful blogger Abe.

Recently--last night--I decided to make a few decisions in order to help me refocus my energies here. I need to stop living with one foot on the other side of the border, and I need to take my economic hits a bit more seriously. I'm sick of living off of lifelines, and it's not healthy for me to rely so heavily on them.

I should be in a town in the center today at a women's conference and meeting with some community groups with whom I will be working in order to help them write English grant proposals. However, the woman I'm to be working with had an emergency that she needed to attend to. I am home, have been doing some homework, and eating some leftovers from the weekend.

This weekend was long. And technically it's not over yet, as I don't have classes on Sunday either. This week was long. I feel like it's been an age since the last Sunday.

On Thursday, I went to an event where I happened to see many Brandeis students. It was nice at first, but it soon reminded me of a reality that I thought I could be prepared for, and that is late August of this year. Too many conversations about housing, people, and classes later, I suddenly had to leave. Exit immediately and go somewhere else where I would not have to think about my readjusting to Brandeis culture. So I did, with some friends, and it was nice. However, it did not solve the problem.

I came back from Tel Aviv the next day--that's where the event was--to greet Alana and Tali, who stayed with me for the weekend. It was great to have them come up, and although I don't have kosher equipment here, we made it work by begging for plastic plates and eating things fresh--aka cold. Everything was delicious, and the company was really nice. Yesterday we even walked all the way to the German Colony--one of my favorite spots in Haifa--in an amount of time I didn't think was possible. There are lots of stairs that cut right through the mountain that I never knew about, so I'm really excited to have found them.

The city is so beautiful, and while I'm happy to be here now, I know that there is a strong local culture that is difficult for me to connect with. That's why projects such as Haifa as a Shared City leave me wondering how I can offer anything to help. It's great that the residents, or some of them, are taking initiative, but I am just a visitor.

I want to discuss my Arabic class. Which is taught in Hebrew. It's hard, but it's good for me, I suppose. I'm hearing a lot of Hebrew, reading a lot of Arabic, and having an experience which is just about as authentic as it gets here. I've been walking on roads in the middle of the desert by myself or with just a friend--shoutout Jackie--and it made more sense than the feeling I have when I'm in that classroom of "how the hell did I get myself into this?" It's an adjustment, but I'm working on it every day. It's also good to keep me going, reading Arabic nearly every day and learning new words with it. It's not a particularly hard or demanding class, but I can get out of it a lot more than it offers as it is a good framework for learning a lot of very useful words in the language.

I hate to say that I think to myself quite often, "What would I do if I simply left the program?" It's not possible, as I'm relying on all kinds of scholarship and reimbursement monies in order to stay here, in need of the credits in order to graduate on time, and not stupid enough to have very little to do for 4 more months. That's a long time, isn't it. I have friends, interesting classes, and a nice place to live. I miss some spontaneity in my life, but I have plans for that--well isn't that just a paradox. Last semester, too, I thought many times that I should just drop the program and go on adventures, learn things in a different way, but I didn't and that experience proved to be incredible. So here I am, trying to get from this situation the most that I can. When I get some time off, you can be certain that I'll be MIA for a bit.

Thanks for following.

--Avraham

springtime

Welcome back! A brief welcome video, should do the trick..



Thank you, Ernie and Cookie Monster; I didn't get it!

I just had a week on high, as Jackie came to visit for her spring break. I felt so good to have her back. We went to Amman, Tel Aviv, Yaffa, Haifa, Akka, and we had a great time. Spring struck just in time. On our drive down to Amman from the bridge, we saw families under every tree picnicking with barbecues going, just sitting in the shade and enjoying each others' company and the weather. Amman was incredible, just like we'd never left.

Our trip back into Israel, through the Allenby Bridge to the West Bank, was kind of ridiculous. We heard a woman, who was discussing her situation with the guards, say "let me clarify, I work in both Jerusalem and Ramallah." Nearly lost control laughing. We crossed okay, but they gave Jackie a bit of a hard time. I smiled and talked us through everything in my beautiful Hebrew--eh..

Purim in Tel Aviv was fascinating. Our evening was spent eating great food, walking around, and finding a really huge street party in an area called Florentine. We even got to meet up with Allie, Lauren, and Darya later on, and went to a diner with them. Deelicious.

The next day we hit up more of Tel Aviv and then Yaffa. Shani met up with us for some coffee later in the day, and it was really nice just to hang out and casually walk back along the promenade by the sea. Very beautiful place. We came back up to Haifa that night, and for the next few days we simply went everywhere in the city--Downtown, Hadar, even Hof ha-Carmel where we met a friend playing guitar on the beach by a broken boat. We spent a day in Akka as well, where we wandered the old city and watched the sun set over the Mediterranean. The week was ideal, and though I had some classes and work, it barely interfered, hamdulillah.

However, back to reality. My Arabic class requires a lot of work from me, as the entire class is taught in Hebrew, while the texts are in Arabic. I'm meeting lots of cool people in the most random ways, and while they're not all going to be constant figures, it's always fun--that's how I roll. I have plenty more to discuss, but I thought that a brief update on my whereabouts was necessary to bring people up to speed. I've got plenty of serious stuff to talk about, but I felt that this light entry should be nice for now. I have photographs to come, as well!

--Avraham

okhteini

I'm at a pretty good place right now. I feel like I am setting up my next few months quite nicely while at the same time keeping strong relationships with people who are not close to me. I am meeting new people and feeling quite engaged in a social life here that suffices without being too demanding as my schedule is filling in pretty nicely.

That being said, I am missing home, my family. My sisters in particular, as we are all in three different regions of the world. I am here, in the Middle East, Anna in New York and sometimes Philadelphia, and Sarah out in Arizona.

I got a voicemail from Anna this morning, and it made me smile because nobody else could have put these words together in this order and this tone except for my sister Anna. It went a little bit like this:

...I found out something gross that you and I both had as babies, and it's this sick disease that mom told me about the other day, and if you want to hear about it call me back...

That gave me such a grin, I can't even tell you!

Also, Jackie has been getting me to listen to all of this new music that is so San Francisco that it makes me miss Sarah. Flannel shirts, folky music, well anyway here's a music video that reminds me of Sarah and I hope that someday she finds the way to express talent like this that she might be hiding somewhere:



On top of that, I have some photographs from this weekend. Ari and Allie came over to visit me, and we had a beautiful weekend with some delicious meals despite the endless rain and thunder. It was nice to have visitors in my new apartment, especially these two who mean a lot to me.

From shoko bisakit

Take care, everyone, and wish me luck this week in picking out of my classes. I'll be sure to give a bit of a description of them when the time comes. 4 days until Jackie comes!

--Avraham